


Space to Grow

by FaramirsBlessing



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Baby Anakin Skywalker, Bonding, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Gen, Jedi as Found Family (Star Wars), Malnutrition, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi is Anakin Skywalker's Parent, One Shot, Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Platonic Relationships, Soft Obi-Wan Kenobi, cute shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 15:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30041043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaramirsBlessing/pseuds/FaramirsBlessing
Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi, young and freshly Knighted, is learning with his padawan Anakin Skywalker what it means to grow.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48





	Space to Grow

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm new to Star Wars but I love it SO much, especially Obi-Wan and Anakin. I love tragedy and feelings - it's absolutely delicious. I'm currently watching The Clone Wars and crying. 
> 
> Here's a little one shot about young Obi-Wan and tiny Anakin set soon after Qui-Gon's death. I'm still getting the hang of the characters, so be kind please! Enjoy!

Obi-Wan wasn’t prepared for this. He was hardly twenty-five years old, freshly knighted, still dealing with the violent loss of his master and consequential grief. Everything felt so raw and new, and on top of it all, now he had a padawan to care for.

And Anakin Skywalker wasn’t like the other children in the Jedi Temple. He hadn’t been found as an infant and brought here to be raised in the ways of the Force since he was a toddler; no, he had been a slave with a mother and attachments and all sort of baggage that Obi-Wan was _not_ equipped to deal with.

Not for the first time, Obi-Wan found himself reaching for his padawan braid, only to find it missing. He winced. He was a Knight now, of course he no longer had a braid. His heart twinged for a brief moment. _If only Master Qui-Gon had been the one to remove it. . ._

Obi-Wan shook himself of the thought.

“Enough of that,” he murmured. He looked at the chronometer at the wall and saw that it was early morning. Anakin would be awake soon. “Tea, then,” he said to himself. “Tea would do us good.”

Obi-Wan spent the next half hour preparing breakfast and tea for himself and Anakin; halfway through he heard the boy beginning to pitter about the quarters and get ready for the day. As Obi-Wan set their meal on the table, Anakin stepped into the kitchen, smothering a yawn.

“Good morning, Anakin,” Obi-Wan greeted.

“Good morning, Master,” Anakin replied, seating himself at the table. “What’re we eatin’?”

“What are we eating,” Obi-Wan gently corrected; he was trying his best to correct Anakin’s grammar and slang, though progress was slow.

Anakin rolled his eyes — which Obi-Wan elected to ignore — and echoed Obi-Wan.

“What are we eating?” he asked.

“Porridge,” Obi-Wan replied.

Anakin made a face.

“That’s it?” he said. “That’s nothing!” He crinkled his nose, which was rather adorable, before complaining more. “And it’s tasteless, Master!”

“You forget that you eat breakfast with the other padawans in the mess hall at 8 am, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin picked up his spoon and poked unhappily at his porridge.

“Then why am I eating porridge _before_ breakfast?”

“You need to gain more weight,” Obi-Wan explained, seating himself opposite Anakin. “You know what the healers said. You don’t weigh as much as the other nine-year-old’s in your class.”

Anakin’s eyes darkened in annoyance.

“That’s not my fault,” he said.

Obi-Wan sighed.

“I never said it was, Anakin,” he said gently, picking up a blumfruit from the basket on the table, slicing it in half, and placing one half in Anakin’s bowl and the other in his. Anakin’s eyes immediately brightened — he preferred eating porridge and other bland foods with sweet things such as fruit, and after a discussion with Vokara Che, Obi-Wan decided adding fruit to Anakin’s diet was the healthiest way to do this.

Obi-Wan and Anakin ate in silence for a while, Anakin all but devouring his carefully allotted portion of porridge while Obi-Wan ate a steadier pace. When he was finished, he sipped at his tea, watching as Anakin cleaned the bright red juice of the blumfruit from his face with a napkin. Obi-Wan’s lips twitched in a faint smile — at least he had succeeded in training the boy into using a napkin instead of his sleeve.

“What are you drinking?” Anakin asked after tossing the napkin into his empty bowl. “Is it caf?”

Obi-Wan chuckled.

“You know it’s not, Padawan.”

Anakin crinkled his nose again and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You made tea _again_?” he asked incredulously. “Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

Obi-Wan cocked his head, thinking about the question.

“I suppose I do,” he answered. Anakin raised a surprised eyebrow.

“Really?” he asked. “What do you drink instead then? Caf?”

Obi-Wan laughed in earnest this time, laying his teacup aside.

“I don’t much like the taste of caf,” he said. “When I am not drinking tea or water, I enjoy juice.”

“Juice?!” Anakin cried. “What are you, six?!”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan admonished.

“You might as well drink a whole milkshake if you’re gonna drink juice,” Anakin said. “They have the same amount of sugar.”

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow before laughing.

“I suppose you’re right about that, Padawan,” he said. “Have you ever had a milkshake?”

Anakin shook his head, padawan braid bouncing against his neck.

“No, but I always wanted to try one,” he said. “Mom used to tell me about blue milkshakes! When I asked the mess hall if they had any though, they just told me to drink water cause it’s better for me.” Anakin pouted and lowered his voice. “I would get fatter if they gave me milkshakes though.”

Obi-Wan barely kept from snorting in laughter.

“Technically, Anakin, you’re not wrong,” he said, amused. He paused for a moment before speaking next. “I’ll tell you what, Padawan, if you pass all your tests and behave in class for the next month, I will take you out of the Temple for a milkshake.”

Anakin jumped out of his chair in excitement and bolted to Obi-Wan’s side, latching onto his arm. He looked up at him with bright, eager eyes, brighter than Obi-Wan had ever seen them.

“Out of the Temple? For a milkshake?” Anakin cried. “A _real_ milkshake?”

“Of course, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, patting the boy’s small hand; he was still so skinny. . .

“Do you promise?” Anakin said, and Obi-Wan noticed that the excitement had faded from his eyes, only to be replaced by suspicion and slight distrust. It made Obi-Wan’s heart ache, but he supposed it was only fair. Anakin had only known him for a little over three months and, prior to this, had spent his entire life as a slave. Slavery was full of broken promises and dashed hopes — Anakin must be used to them by now.

“I promise,” Obi-Wan said solemnly. “You have my vow as a Jedi.” 

Anakin still looked suspicious but relaxed a little bit at Obi-Wan’s words. After a moment, he smiled, a shining and lovely thing, and then suddenly threw himself into Obi-Wan’s arms. Despite the boy’s sleight weight, Obi-Wan would have fallen over in surprise if he wasn’t already sitting down.

Anakin squeezed his arms tightly around Obi-Wan’s waist and murmured words that Obi-Wan couldn’t quite catch before hastily pulling away. His little face was red with embarrassment and Obi-Wan allowed a soft smile to pull at his lips. _Adorable. . ._

“I’ll be back later, Master!” Anakin cried, grabbing his training saber on his way out the door. “See you later!”

And Anakin disappeared in a flash of brown and cream, the door sliding shut behind him. Obi-Wan relaxed a bit, thinking of milkshake flavors at Dex’s. Maybe he was more prepared for a padawan than he thought. . .

************************

**Author's Note:**

> Obi-Wan WOULD bribe Anakin with milkshakes to behave and I stand by that.


End file.
